Well tool placement apparatus



Mafdl 8, 1960 J. w. KENNEDAY WELL Toor. PLACEMENT APPARATUS Filed May 16, 1957 FIG. 3.

u llig l I| FIG.

Il 3 2 I2, 2 Q 2 Unite WELL TooL PLACEMENT APPARATUS John W. Kenneday, Houston, Tex., assignor, by mesne' assignments, to Jersey Production Research Company, Tulsa, Okla., a corporation of Delaware Application May 16, 1957, Serial No. v659,686 s claims. (c1. 16a-s1) comprises a tubular member adapted to form part of' the tubing and the like. The tubular member is formed to provide a port in its Wall intermediate its open upper end and closed lower end of the tubular member. The screen and liner is releasably attached to the lower end ot' the tubular member, and a plug member is movably arranged in the tubular member and is releasably attached to the inner wall of the tubular member in port closing position. A locking means is arranged on at least one of themembers engaging with the other of the members for locking the plug member in port openingposition. The plug member is moved from port closing to port opening position by imposing a sufficient fluid pressure on the plug member to release the plug member from its attachment to the inner wall of the tubular member.v

The screen and liner is released from its attachment to the tubular member by upward .movement of the tubular member after the plug member has been moved from port closing to po-rt opening position.

The Vtubular member may be attached to and form part of thel lower end of the tubing, or the tubular member may be lowered in and retrieved from the tubing, with the tubular member being seatable in and supported in the lower end of the tubing to extend the effective length of the tubing. When the device is lowerable in and retrievable from the tubing, means are provided for sealinglysupporting the tubular member in the tubing.

The plug member is releasably attached to the inner wall of the tubular member by a suitable frangible means, such asl a shear pin, which may be ruptured or sheared by imposition of a suitable pressure on the plug member.

The screen and liner is suitably attached by its upper end to the lower end of thetubular member by locking dogs and the like. The locking dog may suitably be a spring biased member urged into a recess in the upper end of the screen and liner.

The' locking means may suitably be slip 'segments arranged on a plug member for engagement with serrations or corresponding surfaces on the inner wall of the i States Patent 4O tubular member. If slip segments are employed on one of the members for engagement with the other of the members, the provision of serrations for engagement with the slip segments may be dispensed with. While slip segments and the like may be preferred, the locking means may be any ci several well-known locking means forY locking one element "againstl relative movement with respect to' another element.

The present invention will be further illustrated by reference to the drawing in which; y

Fig. 1 illustrates the device of the present invention retrievably arranged in the lower end of the tubing;

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view of the device of Fig.'1

in inoperative position;

Fig. 2a is a sectional view taken along the line 2a-2a of Fig. 2;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view identical to Fig. 2 in operative position; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a modified device forming part of a tubing string.

Referring now to the drawing, in which identicalv numerals will be employed to designate identical parts, and particularly to Fig. 1, numeral 11 designates a well bore drilled from the earths surface, not shown, to penetrate a, plurality of subsurface earth intervals, sands, horizons, strata, formations, and the like.` In this particular instance, well bore 11 is penetrating strata 12, 13 and 14. Arranged in the well bore 11 is a casing string 15, which has been cemented in place by cement 16. The well casing 15 and cement 16 have been perforated to form perforations 17 communicating the interior ofthe casing 15 with the stratum 14.

Arranged in the casing 15 is a tubing string 18 which has its lower open end 19 arranged above the uppermost of the strata 12,13 and 14 from which hydrocarbon pro-V duction may be obtained. Supported and sealed in the lower end of the'tubing 18 and projecting from the open end 19 is a tubular member 20 provided with an enlarged head 21 for seating in the landing nipple 22, which may be -a landing nipple such as described on page 4063 of the Composite Catalog of Oil Field and Pipe Line Equip-v It will be understood that the` to provide slots or openings 2f7eforcommunication through the screen and liner 26. The lower end 26av of the screen and liner 26 is placed on Well bottom adjacent the perforations 17 as shown in Fig. l. 'v f Referring nowto Figs. 2, 2a and 3, the tubular mem,-

ber 20 has screen and liner 26 releasably attached thereto by means .of a releasable attaching means 28 which is designed to engage With-'a recess 29 in the upper end of the screen andrliner'26. Releasable attaching means 28 is made up of a plurality of segments which are normally biased inwardly by a split lband spring 28a which passes through' each-of the segments 28. It is to be noted that the lower end of the tubular member 20- is formed of a lower section 30 which is closed, the lower section 30 being attached to the tubular member 20` by mating threads V31. The lower section 3) is formed on its interio-r surface'to-provide serrations or engaging surfaces 44 for engaging with a locking means which will be described further, Movably arranged within the tubular memberV 20 in port closing arrangementis a plug member 32, which is releasably` attached to the tubular member 20 by a frangible'means such as shear pin 33.

When the plugsmember 32 is attached to the inner wall of the tubular member 20, it is in port closing position,

i as shown in Fig. 2, with a sealbeing effected by sealing means such as O-'rings 34 and 35 inthe plug member '32.

` The' plug member ,3'2 is formed to provide an external shoulder 38 which cooperates with locking means 28 and recess 29 to hold the. screen and liner 26 releasably attached to lthe tubular'member 20. The plug member' .32 provided with a recessed portion 39 which is designed `to receive the locking means 28 when the plug .rrlernberv Patented Mar. 8, 1960 32 moves from port closing to portopening position, as shown in Fig. 3.

Arranged on a conical surface 43 on the lower end of the plug member 32 are locking dogs or gripping members `40, which are designed to engage with the serrations Qrsurfaces 44 on the section 30. The gripping members 40, which are slidable vertically on the conical surface 43,I are held against the surface 43 by the inside wall of the tubular member 20. One such member 40 may be suicient to lock the plug member 32 in its down position. A port 41 is provided to allow any iiuid trapped below the seal 35 to be discharged through the annular passageway 42 provided by the space between the section 30 and the upper end of the screen and liner 26;

Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the shear pin 33 has been sheared by imposition of pressure against the plug 32, causing the plug 32 to move from a port closing to a port opening position. Since the shoulder 38 has moved downwardly, the locking means 28 are biased inwardly by the band spring 28a against the surface defined by the recessed portion 39, while the gripping means 4t) have engaged with the serrations 44 to -lock the plug member 32 into port opening position.

Referring now to Fig. 4, a tubing such as 18 has attached to it by a pipe connection 45 an elongated tubular member 46 provided with a plurality of circulating ports 47. Attached to the lower end of the tubular member 46 is a screen and liner 48 which is similar to screen and liner 26. The screen and liner 48 is attached to the tubular member 46 by locking dogs 49 attached to tubular member 46 by pivot pins 50. Movably arranged within the tubular member 46 is a plug member 51, which may be similar to plug member 32 of Figs. l to 3. Plug member 51 is releasably attached to tubular member 46 by shear pin 52. The tubular member 46 or the plug member 51 is provided with sealing means such as O-rings 53 and 54, which may be arranged in recesses on one of the members. The plug member 51 is provided with locking grab members 57 engageable with corresponding locking grab members 58 on the inner wall of the tubular member 46. The lower end of the plug member 51 is `provided with a locking dog holder 59 which may be provided with a by-pass port 68 for iluid circulation from below the seal member 54. The locking dog members 49 are arranged to seat in a recess 61 defined by the upper end 62 of the screen and liner 48. It is to be noted that the lower end '63 of the tubular member 46 is closed.

The operation of the apparatus of the present invention may be suitably described with reference to placement of gravel or other particulate material around the screen and liner 26 with respect to Figs. 1 to 3. Suitably a pack of walnut shells coated Vwith plastic may be formed around the screen and liner 26. For purposes of description, it may be assumed that a pack of body 65 is formed around the screen and liner 26 by circulating suitable packing material 66 downwardly through the tubing 18 and the tubular member 20 and out through the port 24 in an open position.

Referring to Figs. l to 3 again, it will be seen, with respect to Fig. 2 with the plug member in port closing position, the tubing 20 may be tested by imposing a suficient pressure thereon to leak test the tubing string. Thereafter the pressure is increased to cause the rupturing of the shear pin 33 with the 'imposition of uid pressure against the upper end of the plug member 32, causing it to move downwardly from port closing to port opening position, as shown in Fig. 3, the nely divided or particulate material then being flowed out through the port 24 to form the pack 65, as shown in Fig. 1.

When it is desired to retrieve the tubular member 20 and leave the screen and liner 26 in the casing with the pack 65 formed around it, a wire line having a suitthe elongated tubular member 20 of Figs. l to 3. Since the locking means 28 has moved inwardly out of the recess 29 onto the recessed surface 39 of the plug member 32, upward pull on the device will disengage or detach the tubular member 20 from the screen and liner 26, leaving the screen and liner 26 in the well casing 15 surrounded by the pack 65, with the tubular member 20 and the plug member 32 retrieved from the well tubing through the usual well head equipment such as a lubricator and the like.

In accordance with the embodiment of Fig. 4, the device of the present invention may form part of and be attached to the lower end of the tubing 18 as shown. The

operation of the device of Fig. 4 is substantially identical to that of Figs. 1 to 3, with the exception that the locking dogs 49 are caused to pivot around the pin 50 on downward movement of the tubular member 51 to allow release of the screen and liner 48 fromithe tubular member 46, the plug 51 and the tubular member 46 being removed from the well casing, leaving the screen and liner in place. Thereafter, the tool of the present invention may be detached from the tubing and the tubing again run into the hole and placed as may be desired.-

It may be seen that a frangibly connected, pressure releasing, screen and liner setting tool has been provided in which the screen and liner is releasably held by latching means mounted in the setting tool. As shown by Villustration with the drawing, the tubing may be the setting string or a retrievable tubular member may be employed as the setting string.

The present invention is of considerable advantage and utility in that it provides for placement of a screen and liner in a well casing, followed by release of same by imposition of pressure on a plug member. The plug member also allows the testing of the tubing string by imposition of pressure.

While the invention has been described and illustrated by sealing means, releasable connecting means, and/ or locking means on one of the members or elements of the present invention, which is movable relative to another member or element, it is to be understood that the other or both the elements or members may be pro a. claim as new and useful and secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A well tool which comprises, a tubular member adapted to form part of tubing and the like, said tubular member being formed to provide a port in its wall intermediate its open upper and closed lower end, a screen and liner, a plug member movably and sealingly arranged Vwithin said tubular member, means releasably attaching j member from its attachment to the tubular member, said screen and liner being released from its attachment to4 able fishing tool or grab hook on its lower end is lowered said plug members to the tubular member in port closing position, rst means carried by one of said members adapted to engage with and releasably attach the upperk end of the screen and liner to said tubular member below said port, means on said plug member adapted to engage said rst means to hold said iirst means in engaging position, second means carried by said plug member cooperatively engaging with said tubular member on movement of said plug member to port opening position for holding said plug member in port opening position, said plug member being moved from port closing to port opening position by imposing a suicient uid pressure on said plug member through the tubing to release said plug in which the i tubular member is attached to the lower end of a tubing string.

3. A tool in accordance with claim l in which the tubular member is lowerable in and retrievable from said tubing and the like and in which the tubular member is adapted to be sealingly supported in the lower end of said tubing and the like to project therefrom and extend the effective length of said tubing and the like.

4. A well tool which comprises, a tubular member adapted to form part of tubing and the like, said tubular member being formed to provide a port in its wall intermediate its open upper and closed lower end, a screen and liner, al plug member movably and sealiugly arranged within said tubular member, frangible means releasably attaching the plug member to the tubular member in port closing position, first means carried by one of said'members adapted to engage with and releasably attach the upper end of the screen and liner to said tubular member belowsaid port, means on said plug member adapted to engage said rst means to hold said first means in engaging position, second means carried by said plug member cooperatively engaging with said tubular member on movement of said plug member to port opening position for holding said plug member in port opening position, said plug member being moved from port closing to port opening position by imposing a sufficient fluid pressure on said plug memberthrough v leasably attached to the inner wall of the tubular memberV in port closing position, first means carried by one ofz plug member from port closing to port opening position whereby on upward movement of the tubular member the tubular member is disengaged from the screen and liner and the screen and liner is left in the well.

5. A well tool which comprises a tubular member adapted to form part of tubing and the like, said tubular member being formed to provide a port in its wall intermediate its open upper and closed lower end, a screen and liner, a plug member movably and sealingly arranged within said tubular member, said plug member being releasably attached to the inner wall of the tubular member in port closing position, first means carried` by the tubular member adapted to engage with and releasably attach the upper end of the screen and liner to said tubular member below said port, means on said plug member adapted to engage said first means to hold said rst means in engaging position, second means carried by said plug member `engaging with the inner wall of said tubular member on movement of said plug membei to port opening position for holding said plug member in port opening position, said plug member being moved from port closing to port opening position by imposing a sufiicient fluid pressure on said plug member through the tubing to release said plug member -from its attachment to the tubular member, said screen and liner being released from its attachment to the tubular member by movement of said plug member from port closing to port opening position whereby on upward movement of the tubular member the tubular member is disengaged from the screen and liner and the screen and liner is left in the well.

6. A wire line Well tool which comprises, a tubular member adapted to form part of tubing and the like, said tubular member being formed to provide a port in its wall intermediate its open upper and closed lower end, a screen and-liner, said tubular member being pro.

vided with a locking surface on its inner wall below said -within said tubular member, said plug member being resaid members adapted to engage with and releasably at,

said first means in engaging position, second means'carried by said plug member engaging with the locking sur- Vface on the inner wall of said tubular member on move.-

ment of said plug member to port opening position for holding said plug member in port opening position, said plug member being moved `from port closing to port Y opening position by imposing a sufficient fluid pressure on said plug member through said tubing to release said plug member from its attachment to the tubular member, said screen and liner being released from its attachment to the tubular member by movement of saidplug member from port closing to port opening position whereby on upward movement of the tubular member the tubular member is disengaged from the screen and liner land the screen and liner is left in the well.

7. A wire line well tool which comprises, a tubular member adapted to be lowered in and retrieved from tubing and the like, said tubular member being formed rto provide a port in its wall intermediate its open upper and closed lower end, said tubular member being adapted `to be sealingly supported'in the lower end of the tubing,

a screen and liner, a plug member movably and sealingly arranged within said tubular member, means re-VV v t means in engaging position, second means carried by said plug member engaging with the inner wall of said tubular member on movement of saidplug member to port opening position for holding said plug member in port openn' ing position, said plug member being moved yfrom'port: closing to port opening position by imposing a sufficient fluid pressure on said plug member through the tubing to release said plug member from its attachment to the tubular member, said screen and liner being released from its attachment to the tubular member by movement of said plug member from port closing to port opening position whereby on upward movement of the tubular member the tubular member is disengaged from the screen and liner and the screen and liner is left in tho well.`

8. A tool in accordance with claim 7 in which the first means releasably attaching the screen and liner to the tubular member is a Ylocking dog and in which the means releasably attaching the plug member to Vthe tubue lar member is a shear pin.

`References Cited in the le of this patent i 

